Music-holder



(No Model.)

G. BURT.

MUSIC HOLDER.

No. 298,726. Patented May 20, 1884.

WITNESSES g Q g i ATTORNEYS.

Warren rarns arnivr rnicn.

GEORGE BURT, OF FORT MADISON, IOIVA.

iVlUSlC-=HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 298,726, dated May 20, 1884.

Application filed April 3, 1883.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE BURT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Madison, in the county of Lee and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Music-Holders, of which'the following is a specification.

My invention relates to implements attached to band-instruments for holding music.

It is well known that most band-instruments require the use of both hands of the performer whileplaying them, so that in marching the performers must either confine themselves to music committed to memory or trust to hold ing a book or sheet of music by some attachment to their musical instrument, and most band-instruments are provided with musicholders; but the drum, whose jarring, bouncing action in use renders it difficult to manage in connection with the cymbals, now usually allotted to the same performer, has been found especially difficult to attach a music-holder to, and the object of my invention is to overcome these difficulties, and to adapt such an implement to a drum as will hold either sheet or book music, and will hold both sides of a book, whether thick or thin, with equal stability.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming a music holder, hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a drum showing my music-holder attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the musicholder on the same scale as Figs. 3 and 4.. Fig. 3 shows the same with its-brace-hooks closed beneath it for transportation; and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section, part in elevation, of my music-holder, showing its means of attachment to a drum.

A, represents a drum.

B is the body of the music-holder, made of sheet metal cut and stamped into any ornamental form, and bent at its lower end into two ears, I).

a is apin passing through these cars to serve as a pivot upon which a clamp, O, swings vertically to close upon or clamp the book or other music between it and the body B. This (No model.)

pin a, forming a lever end or thumb-piece, c, which maybe pressed down to raise the clamp from the music. i

D represents the fastener which secures the device to the drum; and it consists of one or more wires secured to the back of the body by being inserted in loops f f of the plate of the body indented through from the front. As a matter of economy in manufacture, I form this fastener D by first shaping its middle into the cross portion (1 and the double hooks 6. Then I coil both legs of the wire into spiral springs h. Thence the two legs are passed through the body B, between the main portion thereof and theindented portions f f ,which,being pinched onto the wire, hold it firmly to the body B. Then both legs are bent into double hooks g. In its normal position the fastener D springs tightly against the back of the body, as shown in Fig. 3. To maintain it in the position shown in Fig. 2, it is necessary to insert something like a small hook between the opposite hooks, g and e. In use these hooks are sprung under the lacing cords or wires E of the drum, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4. The clamp O is continually pressed upon the body B by a double spiral spring, '6, wound around the hinge-pin a, and acting between the lower end of the body-plate B and the outer end or thumbpiece 0 of plate 6.

G G represent the two ends of a single wire whose doubled middle G rests on the bodyplate, and each leg, being wound as a spiral spring on pin a, is then passed forward through slots in the plate of clamp G, and bent downward to rest each end on body B. These two ends ofthe same wire form independent springing clamps G G, adapted to hold the two edges of a sheet of music, or to hold the two leaves of a'book, near the upper end or middle of the same, as its relative size may be, the clamp G at the same time holding the lower edge of the book. The length of the slots in clamp 0, through which springs G pass, is such as to allow said springs to rest their points on plate B, and to rise to any required height in the slots; but at the same time the raising of clamp G engages and raises the wires G, thus freeing the three clamping-points. from the music at one move, leaving the music free.

clamp 0 extends to the rear of its fulcrum- The clamps may also be all raised to insert] 2. The combination, with a body having music by one and the same act of pressing down the thumb-piece a; yet either one of the springs G may be raised independently of the other," and either will adjust itself to press on a thick or thin book, so that the two pages of a book may be held with equal firmness.

Special rods or cords may be placed on the drum to hold the hooks e g; or said hooks and their Wire body D may be placed crosswise with the body 13, to adapt them to engage the edges of the drum-rim; but I prefer to adapt them to be attached by means of the common lacing cords or rods E of the drum.

I do not know that a music-holder has before been provided with spring-hooks adapted to engage either the lacings or the rim of a drum.

I am aware that there is a paper-holder having a sheet-metal back upon which separate pieces are riveted to form ears for a tilting clamp to hinge upon, as in Patent No. 145,809, and I do not claim the same.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a body having bent-up hinge-ears, a sheet-metal clamp pivoted thereto, and a spring actuating said clamp to close its edge upon said body, the clamp having two slots in it, of a spring-wire secured to the body, and passing its two ends out through the two slots aforesaid to press independently of each other upon the upper portion of the body on opposite sides of a central vertical line, for the purpose described.

bent-up hinge-ears, aslotted sheet-metal clamp and a pivot-pin joining the two, of a spring, constructed and located substantially as described, to force the clamp down upon the body, and two spring-fingers attached to the device, substantially as described, to project through the slots in the clamp and press upon the upper part of the body, as and for the purpose specified.

8. The combination, with a music-holder constructedsubstantiallyas described, of means for holding the same to a drum, substantially as follows: a spring-wire, D, having double or reverse hooks g at its two ends, similar reverse hooks a each side of its middle, and the cross portion d connecting its two arms, said arms secured tothe body of the music-holder and coiled, forming springs h, as shown and hooks, as 'set forth, the two arms of said wire passing through said punctures and firmly clamped by the indented portions, as shown and described.

GEORGE BURT.

Witnesses Enos NEWTON, 1+. A. NEWTON, M. O. NEWTON. 

